Names Under The Loup: Stålhästen

When Jon Bon Jovi sang “I’m a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride, I’m wanted dead or alive”, he probably meant a motorcycle, as the expression steel horse commonly refers to classic American biker gangs and outlaw culture. But maybe, just maybe, he was paying homage to the Swedish bike manufacturer Stålhästen (Steel Horse). The company takes inspiration from “your grandparents’ old bikes” and has a perhaps less dangerous target audience, but they sure are on a roll. We think Stålhästen is a supreme use of a loanword/name that they’ve managed to make their own. But enough neighing –